McDonalds to offer ChargePoint electric vehicle charging stations
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jul 6th 2009 7:03AM
posted Jul 6th 2009 7:03AM
[Via RedFerret]
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People still go to McDonalds? 0_o
The great unwashed will always like the cheeseburger..
now you can get fat and save the planet at the same time
yeah, gross.
Publicity...
Just Showing!
Electrical Cars won't ever compare to regular cars...
Unless we come up with a way to cheaply mass manufacture fuel for the Internal Combustion Engine, in 100 yrs or whatever it's gone when all the OIL has been sucked dry from the earth.
What a ridiculous comment.
battery technology gets better every 5-10 years and green power plants are going up all the time. Oil dependency will be a thing of the past eventually. Never say never.
Actually electric engines are superior to gasoline engines - it's just a matter of figuring out how to speed up the charging process.
Hogwash
Very interesting proposal, especially when their trademark might be harming day by day due to the company's bad reputation in terms of "unhealthy fast food". CSR innitiatives seem to be profitable in the long run. Let's see how they manage it!
OMG HIS HAND!!!!!
It's not correct for a white actor to do blackface, just as it's not right for a black actor to do whiteface.
omg his shoes!!
now that a lot of megabites
I think this is great news. People who post that electric will never compare to regular cars really don't understand technology. People also said computers would never fit in a single room either. Some said even farther back that flying was impossible. Yet even all this to the side, I guess you haven't heard of the Tesla Roadster, or even their newest model the Model S. (one sport a 300 mile range and the other a 250 mile range on a single charge) Hmmmm.... seems pretty comparable to a "regular" car. Oh yeah but it also cost me pennies on the mile to use, and I don't have to worry about maintenance in the traditional sense. And what's that 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds? And under 6 seconds for the model S... gheez I guess their faster than most "regular" cars as well?
BTW most battery technology today is leaning toward getting an 80% charge in under 15 minutes, which is actually one the main selling points to the Model S.
Maybe if you took the time to educate yourself you could keep yourself from saying stupid things.
Well said. +1
I have a Prius now and would love a Tesla or Plug in Pri next year:)
plug in your car and save the planet. Eat crap at McD's, die you, save the planet! It's WIN WIN!
But I agree, it's a great idea. A giant leap into creating infrastructure for the future generations of non fossil fuel cars!
plug in your car and save the planet. Eat crap at McD's, die YOUNG, save the planet! It's WIN WIN!
But I agree, it's a great idea. A giant leap into creating infrastructure for the future generations of non fossil fuel cars!
Still...I love the sound of turbo's spooling as you hammer through the gears and the gentle burble of a V8 ready to charge off the line...
Charge the battery in 15 minutes? Ha! That would require over 200,000 watts... good luck finding that kind of power source, wires to transfer it to the car, and a battery pack that can charge at that rate.
@MattAttack
I agree that electric cars are something that should be taken seriously, but comeon the technology is still not there to be affordable to the everyday consumber.
First, the battery packs are ridiculously expensive to replace.
Second, the Tesla Roadster costs over 100k and is a two-seater. The Tesla sedan is supposed to be like 50k, but analysts have already said that the cost of the battery back alone will cost close to 40k and that the car will cost well over the 50k price tag just to manfacture (I think I read 60k). 10K per car to lose is a hard bit of cash to swallow. Hell, if it cost sony $1000 for every original PS3, but sold it for $600 at launch they were losing 400 per unit--and look how they are doing financially!
Also, 50k is a hell of a lot of money for anyone to justify purchasing in this economy that doesn't seem to be getting any better in the near future.
I think its great that we've come this far, but the technology still isn't there at least from an economical standpoint.
err-- I meant consumer
One also needs to understand where the electricity comes from. If we all switch to electric cars, the infrastructure will become overloaded, if it isn't already. How do you build out a grid quickly and cheaply (relative to nuclear, wind, solar, etc.)? You'll have to build coal or gas fired power plants, and I'm sure the same people buying an electric car will start bleating about the number of new fossil-fuel-fired plants that would have to be built.
I also wonder what the range of an electric car would be in winter.
I like the idea of electric cars, and we may get there eventually, but there is no free lunch.
@ gtaylor99
"You'll have to build coal or gas fired power plants, and I'm sure the same people buying an electric car will start bleating about the number of new fossil-fuel-fired plants that would have to be built."
-Even if we were to build some more coal power plants, it would still create less pollution than 200 million gasoline engines.
"I also wonder what the range of an electric car would be in winter."
-While I can't say about the others, the Tesla cars have heaters for the batteries so it's not much of a problem.
@paul
They all exist.
The Aerovironment showcased a 250kW charger (250,000 Watts) a while back. It charged a 35kWh Altairnano battery in 10 minutes. So both the charger and battery exists. The power source is likely 3 phase grid power, which probably isn't easy to route to some residential areas, but not impossible.
http://cleantech.com/news/1242/aerovironment-shows-altairnano-10-minu
I don't think a 250kW charging is even necessary. Just have a ~100kW rapid charger which doesn't require as much power. It'll still give you ~100 miles of range in ~10-15 minutes. You can find such chargers in hawaii and in forklift/baggage carrier charging in airports and warehouses.
http://www.greencar.com/articles/hyundai-santa-fe-ev.php
http://www.posicharge.com/2-0.html
So the excuse that the technology doesn't exist is bunk.
@rickjamess04
That's just short term, in the long term, I see battery prices decreasing since a couple of the major automakers are starting joint ventures to mass produce automotive ready large format battery packs. If Tesla can do the Model S for $50k or even up to $70k that's already price parity with existing gas cars since a BMW 5 series starts at $45k, ones of closer power/performance (535i, 550i) starts at $51k and $60k, and the CLS which the Model S is closer to, starts at $71k.
And don't forget cars like the Volt ($40k) and the iMIEV (currently $47k before subsidies, but Mitsubishi says they forsee cutting the price in half as they increase volume, which should be possible given the base car is fairly cheap ~$10k and the batteries should only add ~$10k in cost).
haha, jake, you talk like 100KW would be no big deal. A typical residential 200A, single phase service isn't even half that. With electrical service common today, a 100KW charger would be impossible for virtually all homes and 250KW, needless to say, is even more absurd. If you want to avoid expensive, systemic retrofits to electrical infrastructure you need to be thinking more in terms of 5-10KW chargers, not 100 or 250. How does that technology sound, jake? We aren't getting there without a lot of pain.
How many people eat in McD's for more than 30mins? Most people drive-thru. Another thing, most EV drivers most likely eat healthy and check calories.
Agreed 100%
It's the big picture that's more important, I think. Once a significant name gets behind something like this, it's more likely that others will follow.
look at his shoes.......they remind me of DocMartens....he looks fascist :P
LOL
Hey, Cary is just around the corner from me in Raleigh. Too bad the Prius can't use this. I'd go check it out.
Next year my friend :)
When your customers just aren't eating enough, why not feed their cars, too?!
And this is not in San Francisco (or anywhere else in California for that matter) because...?
Yeah, 'cause nobody in the South ever thinks about energy consumption or the environment, they're all too busy runnin' moonshine and huntin' possum.
FYI there are electric vehicles around here, just not very many; Progress Energy has charging stations near their building downtown and I see vehicles there regularly.
Only an idiot would buy an electric car. Natural gas is the answer.
I also heard that Mcdowell's (the ones with the golden arcs) is getting the ChargeDot charging stations.
:D
save the world while killing yourself. :|
+1 Coming to America ref
Gtaylor has a good point, but let's also not forget Cap & Trade which passed the House last a couple Fridays ago while we were all reading Michael Jackson death gossip.
Without going into details, it's likely to make our cheapest and most domestic source of power (electricity) much more expensive, thus making an electric car much less appealing. (Charge the car at night or run the AC? Hm...)
Coulrophobia nightmare, luckily clowns hate tangelos so you can fill your car with it.
how bout if you drive thru o.0
Thats why there are play places inside so you can burn off some calories while your car is charging
From the comments I feel a lot of people are not intouch with reality. For one cars that actaully produce the most "problem" causing emitions are poorly mantained and owned by those that CAN NOT afford to by a newer vehicle. Heck they can't afford a $2,000 used car much less a $50k new electric car. The death of the internal cumbustion engine us not the solution. There are perfectly good and even greener forms of bio fuels that could replace gasoline. Nitro and alcohol plant based fuels can burn cleaner and make more power than traditional gas.
Those saying a sudden increase in electric vehicles would only cause more fosil file based power plant usage are correct. There is no perfect answer, but I can assure you that electric vehicles have some serious public safety issues also. Electric vehicles are extremely quite. How many blind people will step out infront of them because they just did nit hear them coming? How many electric motorcycle riders will die because some idiot in an electric car didn't hear the bike, and changed lanes into them, or pulled out in front of them. Don't even try saying those that ride motorcycles have it coming. Motorcycles are far better for the enviroment than any car, gas or electric.
If you really want a change with modern transportation start by organizing new electric car and motorcycle racing enterprizes. It is a fact the racing drives progress, and if you want a mode of transportation to be popular it needs a racing side. Everything that makes your daily travels safe was first used in racing. P.C. Zombies can look down their noses all they want at racing, but it's the only way a new mode of travel will be successful. Until electric vehicles can go 300 miles at 200mph they will not see any real foothold in todays automotive market place.
People that want and expect change need to stop expecting other people to just come over to their way of thinking. If you want all electric vehicles then you have to find a way to make it powerful, quick, and fast. If you don't know there is a huge difference between quick and fast. You also have to learn that there is truly something awe inspiring about the roar if an extremely powerful engine, that electric motors just can not replicate. When intune with an engine a person can tell what's right and what's wrong with it by the sound alone.
Now as for saying 10 minutes is not enough time to charge an electric vehicle. There is a 280mph electric drag bike that charge. In less than two minutes. There are quick, fast, and powerful electric vehicles, but they are entirely too expensive. Engadget has tested electric motorcycles, but I can assure you the range sucks and the top speeds were dismal and most likely unsafe. I say unsafe because the only deffence a bike has is it's abilty to accelorate and stop quickly, because idiots in cars will look right at them and not even see them. Just for the record Motorcycles are not unsafe. It's the rider that makes it safe or unsafe.
Now for those saying "fat blah, who eats blah" stop being so closed minded, and expecting everyone to think and feel exactly as you do. If someone wants to eat dirt from their yard they can. If they want to eat bowls full of crisco lard they can. Sure you have the right to think and feel as you wish, but the second your rights to feel and think that way begins to infrindge on anyone elses rights to think and feel and be what ever way you don't want them to be you lose your rights. Stop ridiculing and start helpng people lead a healthier life or shut up, because your only being a jerk and making matters worse.
Way to go to the owner of this McDonalds for at least doing something and not just running their mouth. What did most of you neigh sayers do other than run your mouths and exhale entirely too much CO2 while you were at it?
I propose a soylent green-based fuel. it has the word green in it so it must be good.
Awesomely posed photochop guys! My had, head and arm goes off to you!